The present invention relates to a toy bulldozer. More particularly, the present invention relates to power-operated toy bulldozer that seats one person and is capable of moving from one location to another.
Motorized toys that resemble or mimic real-world vehicles are very popular with children. As a result, it is common to see toys resembling automobiles, motorcycles, boats, airplanes, amphibious tanks, etc. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,523 to Mariol discloses an electric motor driven toy train which comprises multiple cars that are articulated about a vertical axis and has one axle to minimize the turning radius of the train set.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,370 to Goldfarb et al. discloses an amphibious toy vehicle capable of operating along a solid surface in air and also capable of self-propulsion along a solid surface at the bottom of a body of water or along the top free surface of a body of water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,646 to Harris et al. discloses a battery-operated child's riding toy that is capable of being driven in the forward direction or in the reverse direction. While these toy vehicles are a convenient and fun way of teaching children about their full sized counterparts, they suffer from the drawback that these toy vehicles are incapable of seating children, which results in a less interesting experience for the children.
In addition to the above-mentioned drawbacks, the existing motorized toys fail to simulate the feeling of driving a real-world bulldozer. Real-world bulldozer assemblies are designed to perform various functions. For example, they are designed for leveling a flat surface wherein dirt and debris is pushed in front of the shovel and plow assembly. In other arrangements, the bulldozer assembly is designed so that a blade of the bulldozer can be angled in one direction or the other with respect to its travel path, thus directing the materials to one side or the other of the travel path of the bulldozer assembly. Accordingly, there is a need for a motorized toy that is similar to a real-world bulldozer and allows children the opportunity to learn about its operation and functionality.
While the existing toy vehicles mentioned above may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they are not as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.